Health

Meditation can be just as effective as medication when treating anxiety, study says

By Mallika Marshall, MD

October 10, 2024 / 5:48 PM EDT / CBS Boston

Study says meditation can treat anxiety just as well as medication

BOSTON - Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day and one condition that millions of Americans suffer from is anxiety. A new study finds that meditation can be just as effective in treating it as medication.

Researchers at several institutions, including the NIH and Mass General examined 276 adults with anxiety disorders such as panic, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety. Half underwent weekly mindfulness meditation classes and half were treated with a medication called escitalopram, commonly known as Lexapro.

Participants in both groups experienced reductions in anxiety symptoms with no significant difference between treatment with mindfulness meditation or medication at 8 weeks.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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